Overview of Academic Writing in China A Response to Wesley O’Morrow’s Materials Review, “Texts in Context: Textbook Choice in an Evolving ELT Environment” (Vol. 4, No. 1, January 2017)

Abstract

Wesley O’Morrow provides an appropriate review of China’s college English teaching materials by analyzing two English as a foreign language (EFL) textbook series: New College English and Academic English Reading and Writing. New College English, as O’Morrow indicates, was designed in 2002 for the Chinese EFL classroom. However, the series is dominated by non-authentic materials (materials that are specially designed for language learning) and abridged readings, and excessive attention is paid to the teaching of vocabulary in isolation, as evidenced by the margin glosses in both English and Chinese.  Exercises in these textbooks include vocabulary drills, paraphrases, cloze activities, translations from either Chinese to English or from English to Chinese, and passages for memorizing. As O’Morrow writes, “. . . each unit [of the textbooks] concludes with brief extension activities involving writing and speaking” 
(O’Morrow, 2017, p. 26), which to O’Morrow shows that communication skills in writing and speaking are not given enough attention. O’Morrow thus concludes that the New College English textbook series places a particular emphasis on improving vocabulary in preparation for standardized tests rather than helping foster original, effective oral and written communication.